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Don't Care If It Kills You

Have a fairly new client who interviewed me before her first appointment. Apparently I passed when I stated that I am not in favor of clipping double coats. Four appointments later, and she wants nothing more than to have her golden retriever clipped. " I know you don't want to, but I want you to clip him. Tired of all the hair." "You know he will just shed shorter hair." "I know but I just need it off." "Well ok, but you know I'm gonna die a little." So I did. The dog is ancient, and I consoled myself with the comfort groom argument. And it hurt a little, yes, but with a 3/4" comb and cv he looked great afterward and felt good, and the client was happy. No tip though. She never does, but seriously, I could have died...

I think a 3/4 comb a good idea. Hey, our first dog was a Golden and every summer we had her cut down. This was in the 80s/90s and we had no choice of length or anything! She came back with clipper irritation every time.. and no not the second day, but as I picked her up and put her in the car. I never knew any differently. She looked okay, felt happy, and it always grew back nicely. The rest of the time she'd jump in the tub with the boys most nights lol... so she got rinsed and conditioned every day. But I digress.

I'd rather do that myself because some people want it done no matter what and I know I'll do a good job and be kind.

I think a 3/4 comb a good idea. Hey, our first dog was a Golden and every summer we had her cut down. This was in the 80s/90s and we had no choice of length or anything! She came back with clipper irritation every time.. and no not the second day, but as I picked her up and put her in the car. I never knew any differently. She looked okay, felt happy, and it always grew back nicely. The rest of the time she'd jump in the tub with the boys most nights lol... so she got rinsed and conditioned every day. But I digress.

I'd rather do that myself because some people want it done no matter what and I know I'll do a good job and be kind.

Well, you aren't dumb by any stretch, but yes Goldens are a double coated breed.. at least they should be lol! They were bred for hunting and retrieving so they need that extra coat to protect them in that cold hunting weather. Our Golden had a beautiful coat.. just thick and beautiful. I guess like many breeds, breeders are probably breeding for what their customers want??

Well, you aren't dumb by any stretch, but yes Goldens are a double coated breed.. at least they should be lol! They were bred for hunting and retrieving so they need that extra coat to protect them in that cold hunting weather. Our Golden had a beautiful coat.. just thick and beautiful. I guess like many breeds, breeders are probably breeding for what their customers want??

Well said!

I think the confusion is solely an issue with nomenclature, any dog with an undercoat is deemed 'Double coated' but what does your brain imagine when you picture a double coated dog?

I always picture heavy double coats like Huskies, Malamutes, Pyrenees etc and I'm sure the majority do as well. I know many goldens with sleek, beautiful, flowing locks and some with dense AF coats, depends on the breeder.

Well you've never been dumb that I can tell!
The goldens I've done though have all had dense undercoats. As Dasue suggested, such a popular breed, not all 'breeders' are gonna care about breed standard. Breed standard is 23"-24" height at withers for males, with deviations up to 1" penalized, and more than 1" disqualified. I see plenty that would be disqualified.
Customer was happy with the length. Just thought it was funny that my feelings about shaving were what made her decide to use my services, then just a few months later she totally reverses. Old dog, happy compromise, money in my account, I can sleep at night.

Well, you aren't dumb by any stretch, but yes Goldens are a double coated breed.. at least they should be lol! They were bred for hunting and retrieving so they need that extra coat to protect them in that cold hunting weather. Our Golden had a beautiful coat.. just thick and beautiful. I guess like many breeds, breeders are probably breeding for what their customers want??

We've groomed a few field bred dogs--higher energy, different structure than show and most of their coats are thinner and more sparse; not devoid of undercoat but it's not a Golden-in-a-Pyr coat IME.
A few of our show bred Goldens have REALLY thick coats; very correct but very thick.